| Formation | November 2007 |
|---|---|
| Location |
|
| Owner | the Samir Kassir Foundation |
| Website | SKeyes Media |
The Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom (Samir Kassir Eyes) monitors the violation against freedom of press and culture in the Middle East while promoting the establishment of an Arab opinion that is in favor of freedom of expression. [1] It achieves its goals through online publications of reports and periodic organization of workshops, exhibits and conferences on press and cultural freedom related issues. [2] Furthermore, SKeyes also provide legal, financial and moral support to journalists facing prosecution. [2]
SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom was established by the Samir Kassir Foundation in November 2007 in Beirut, Lebanon. [1] The "S" and "K" in SKeyes stand for "Samir Kassir", which is a tribute to the slain Lebanese journalist. Currently, SKeyes operates in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan through its network of correspondents and publishes online reports on cultural and press freedom in these countries, though it hopes to expand its scope to cover the entire Arab world in the future. [2]
SKeyes received its founding grant from Foundation for the Future who is dedicated to freedom of expression. Skeyes also has financial support from the European Union and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX). [3]
Mamnou3 is a Lebanese mockumentary web series that pokes fun at the country's censorship bureau by examine its "day-to-day inner workings". [4] The series exposes the bureau's absurdity satirically in an effort to challenge the validity of the government's censorship practices.
Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization focused on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as founded on the belief that everyone requires access to the news and information, in line with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that recognises the right to receive and share information regardless of frontiers, along with other international rights charters. RSF has consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie.
IFEX, formerly International Freedom of Expression Exchange, is a global network of more than 119 independent non-governmental organisations that work at a local, national, regional, or international level to defend and promote freedom of expression as a human right.
Samir Kassir was a Lebanese-Palestinian journalist of An-Nahar and professor of history at Saint-Joseph University, who was an advocate of democracy and prominent opponent of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. He was assassinated in 2005 as part of a series of assassinations of anti-Syria Lebanese political figures such as Rafic Hariri and George Hawi.

An-Nahar is a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Lebanon. In the 1980s, An-Nahar was described by TheNew York Times and Time Magazine as the newspaper of record for the entire Arab world.

The Democratic Left Movement is a nonsectarian and a democratic leftist political party. It was founded in September 2004 by left-wing and center-left intellectuals and activists some of whom had previously split from the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) while some were student activists from the "Independent Leftist Groups". The DLM affirms a European-style social democracy—but is open to all forms of leftism and encourages the development of a true secular state. The party operates under a decentralized framework that emphasizes diversity of thought for a progressive society in a liberal democratic environment. It participated in the 2005 Cedar Revolution, a wave of demonstrations against the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and calls for correcting imbalanced relations with Syria.
May Chidiac is a journalist and former Lebanese Minister of State for Administrative Development.

Gebran Ghassan Tueni was a Lebanese politician and the former editor and publisher of daily paper An Nahar, established by his grandfather, also named Gebran Tueni, in 1933. He was assassinated in 2005 as part of a series of assassinations of Syria's critics in Lebanon.
As of the early 2000s, Sudan had one of the most restrictive media environments in Africa. Sudan's print media since independence generally have served one of the political parties or the government in power, although there occasionally were outspoken independent newspapers.
The Daily Star was an English-language newspaper in Lebanon which was distributed across the Middle East. It was founded by Kamel Mrowa in 1952, ceased its print format in February 2020, and completely closed on 31 October 2021.
Arab culture is the culture of the Arabs, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, in a region of the Middle East and North Africa known as the Arab world. The various religions the Arabs have adopted throughout their history and the various empires and kingdoms that have ruled and took lead of the civilization have contributed to the ethnogenesis and formation of modern Arab culture. Language, literature, gastronomy, art, architecture, music, spirituality, philosophy and mysticism are all part of the cultural heritage of the Arabs.

As-Safir was a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper in Lebanon. The headquarters of the daily was in Beirut. It was in circulation from March 1974 until December 2016. The last issue of the paper was published on 31 December 2016. The online version was also closed on the same date.
Giselle Khoury was a Lebanese–French journalist and talk show host. On her show Al Mashhad, she interviewed prominent figures and high-profile guests from the Arab world. She was married to Samir Kassir.
Terrorism in Syria has a long history dating from the state-terrorism deployed by the Ba'athist government since its seizure of power through a violent coup in 1963. The Ba'athist government have since deployed various types of state terrorism; such as ethnic cleansing, forced deportations, massacres, summary executions, mass rapes and other forms of violence to maintain its totalitarian rule in Syria. The most extensive use of state terrorism in the 20th century was, the state deployed extensive violence against civilians, such as the case of 2004 Qamishli massacre. When Arab Spring spread to Syria in 2011, the Ba'athist security apparatus launched a brutal crackdown against peaceful protestors calling for freedom and dignity, which killed thousands of civilians and deteriorated the crisis into a full-scale civil war. Taking advantage of the situation, transnational Jihadist groups like Islamic State and al-Nusra began to emerge in Syria as the war escalated, some of which emulated the deadly terrorist tactics of the Assad regime.
Multiple forms of media including books, newspapers, magazines, films, television, and content published on the Internet are censored in Saudi Arabia.
The mass media in Syria consists primarily of television, radio, Internet, film and print. The national language of Syria is Arabic but some publications and broadcasts are also available in English and French. While television is the most popular medium in Syria, the Internet has become a widely utilized vehicle to disseminate content. Transcending all available media, the government seeks to control what Syrians see by restricting coverage from outside sources. Publications and broadcasts are monitored by members of the government. All mass media outlets are under the supervision of the Ministry of Information. Third article of the 2013 Information Ministry guidelines stipulate that purpose of all media outlets is "to enlighten public opinion" in line with the ideological doctrines "of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and the policy of the state".
This list of Internet censorship and surveillance by country provides information on the types and levels of Internet censorship and surveillance that is occurring in countries around the world.
Nawaat is an independent collective blog co-founded by Tunisians Sami Ben Gharbia, Sufian Guerfali and Riadh Guerfali in 2004, with Malek Khadraoui joining the organization in 2006. The goal of Nawaat's founders was to provide a public platform for Tunisian dissident voices and debates. Nawaat aggregates articles, visual media, and other data from a variety of sources to provide a forum for citizen journalists to express their opinions on current events. The site does not receive any donations from political parties. During the events leading to the Tunisian Revolution of 2011, Nawaat advised Internet users in Tunisia and other Arab nations about the dangers of being identified online and offered advice about circumventing censorship. Nawaat is an Arabic word meaning core. Nawaat has received numerous awards from international media organizations in the wake of the Arab Spring wave of revolutions throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Quds News Network is a Palestinian youth news agency founded in 2011. The agency is staffed with volunteer correspondents across Palestine.
Justice for Journalists Foundation is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to fight impunity for attacks against media. Based in London, its main goal is to protect journalists from the abuse of their right to freedom of expression, increase public awareness about attacks on media workers and provide journalists with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect themselves from professional risks.
The Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of Press is an annual award established by the European Union in 2006 to honor the memory of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated on June 2, 2005, in Beirut. The award recognizes journalists from North Africa, the Middle East, and the Gulf who have distinguished themselves through the quality of their work and their commitment to human rights, democracy, good governance, and civic engagement. Each winner receives a €10,000 prize.